BACK TO BASICS: The Essential Groundwork for Entrepreneurs

by Bert Shlensky | Aug 20, 2020 | Marketing

A compelling book title is fantastic and it may even entice people to pick up your novel, but if the content is sh*t, then what’s the point? You’ll quickly be found out and considered a phony. The same goes for any endeavor: a great idea is swell, but without substance to back it up, it’s just another half-baked plan and soon-to-be failure. In my experience, entrepreneurs are superb at expressing their ideas, passion, and excitement. However, their biggest misstep is neglecting the basics, which make a business successful. A great business idea is swell, but you need to lay the essential groundwork. A common “oops” moment is when an entrepreneur has failed to develop any estimates or parameters to understand their potential sales and profits.

While these obvious mistakes are unsettling, I find that many entrepreneurs are shortsighted when it comes to many basic business requirements. They skip vital steps (perhaps without even realizing they’re doing it), which can really leave holes in a business plan or proposal. You need to lay the essential groundwork.

The following is a list of basic considerations for small business managers. These topics are the essential groundwork of any successful business:

1. Set personal goals. What are your goals and priorities? And which of those need the most improvement? Remember the saying, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” You need to have a vision and some direction. And, in the middle of a pandemic, simply pausing or surviving might be the best goal.
2. Don’t be afraid of risk. There are numerous opportunities to take more risk. A great starting place is: Do something instead of nothing. Explore new options, get rid of failing efforts, and try utilizing outside ideas (whether it’s a think tank or hiring new employees with specialized skill sets).
3. Continue learning. Education is a key element to growing and staying relevant.Utilize books, the Internet, and external resources to make better choices. Pay attention to data, but don’t forget to trust intuition as well. You can also look to other businesses’ failures and successes to better understand your industry and market trends. 
4. Embrace Change. Don’t just talk about change. Take action! Responding to disruptive change requires finding a way to incorporate data, analysis, and pre-existing models while also embracing out-of-the-box thinking and flexibility.
5. Don’t neglect key elements of success. Operations, customer service, and logistics are just as important as traditional functions.They present huge opportunities for a business to become more efficient and differentiate itself. (Like selling on Amazon or bundling products.)
6. Understand diversity. Demographics are affected by age, location, socioeconomic status, race, gender, etc. Current events have certainly affected trends relating to racial and female groups. Staying up-to-date on your target consumer and their habits will help inform your decisions. Do you know who your customers are and what demographics they belong to?
7. Measure and assess. Remember the 80-20 rule, which states that 80% of your sales will come from 20% of your products and/or customers. Are you measuring your sales, key items, and customers?
8. Know your parameters. As the saying goes, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” Make sure to figure out where your weak links are as well as your strengths.
9. Relax. You can’t do everything in one day. Pace yourself and remember that there will always be uncertainty and change. Stay focused and take it one day at a time.
10. Always be willing to improve. What are your biggest challenges? Where are you overlooking potential opportunities? In what areas could you do better? Don’t be afraid to ask yourself, “How am I doing?” And then answer honestly.

People often hear “back to basics” and think, “That doesn’t apply to me. I’ve been doing this for years!” But, that mentality is detrimental. Performing a check-in is not regression. In fact, successful people frequently use a “back to basics” approach to keep themselves sharp and focused. Lay the essential groundwork. Fundamentals are important; they set us up for greater achievements.

Yoga is a great example: If you haven’t mastered the basic yoga pose, you won’t be moving on to that handstand or anything else more advanced. Yogis often perform check-ins by doing foundational poses to reset and strengthen the core of their practice. This approach is beneficial for everything we do—from relationships to business to athletics. An example would be checking in with a partner and doing the consistent work required to keep the foundation of your relationship strong. Or, it could mean reevaluating your business goals and analyzing your process to ensure you’re staying on track and heading in the direction you’d envisioned. In both cases, however, the benefits of going “back to basics” once in awhile can definitely help keep you focused and headed for success.  

Contact us for a FREE evaluation and get an alternative perspective on your business. We’d love to help you identify ways to adapt to current trends. No one has time for BS—so we’ll cut straight to the point and answer any questions you have. Reach us at:

914-632-6977 or BShlensky@startupconnection.net

Dr. Bert Shlensky, President of StartupConnection.net, has an MBA and PhD from the Sloan School of Management at M.I.T. He served as the President of WestPoint Pepperell’s apparel fabrics business & President and CEO of Sure Fit Products. More than 2,000 clients have benefitted from his business acumen over the course of his long career. He now focuses on working with select startups and small businesses. Please visit our website: https://www.startupconnection.net/ for more information.